It's a process
by Thulay
Summary: Funny how at night people start thinking. Why did Alicia stay with Peter. And what happens when she leaves.I'm no good at summaries so just read it and tell me what you think. Started as a one shot. New Chapter is  finally  up!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, they are not mine, but the story is .__ 'The Good Wife' is the property of CBS, but they probably don't mind if I borrow them for a bit. _

**It's a process **

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

At night she would lie in bed, thinking of what she had. She had the perfect life. Everyone always kept telling her had a great husband. He was someone she could rely on, who took care of her. He made romantic gestures, helped her with the kids, gave her everything she could possibly want. A hard working man. She had two fantastic kids and a beautiful house. She had everything everyone could ever want. Heck, she had everything she could ever want. Still ,she couldn't get her mind away from that one thought. O yes, she would push it away. Every time she would push it far away to the back of her mind and fill it with thoughts of what she had. She was married , happily married. She was happy.

At night she would lie in bed, remembering who she was. She should leave him. She would be fine. She would come out of this crisis stronger. She had great kids, a new job she loved. But he was deeply sorry. He loved her so much he would do anything in the world to make it right. If he could he would take it all back. And she loved him; she had loved him for most of her adult life. But right now she hated him. No, maybe it wasn't hate, she resented him. She resented him for all the pain he caused , the embarrassment she had to live with. The embarrassment their kids had to live with. She was disappointed in him. He hurt her. She knew some how she would make it through this, they would make it though all of this. Although right now she didn't know how. So, once in a while she would let her mind wonder off. She thought about how it would be to feel his arms around her, holding her, his lips on her, kissing that soft spot on her neck just below her ear. How she would run her hands over his muscular arms. She would think about what could have been if she hadn't married Peter. But she had. And despite of everything, she had once loved him. She did love him. And so she stayed

At night she would lie in bed, wondering what she should do. She was a strong woman. She knew what she should do. It was the decent thing to do. The good thing to do. Her kids needed her and he did to. She cared for him. She would always care for him. Peter was as much part of her life as she herself was. But ever since that day, the day he kissed her. The day she'd seen the raw emotion on his face, the lust and the love in his eyes. His eyes where begging her, pleading to let him in, to let him love her. Ever since that day she had been wondering. But she cared for him, he needed her and she needed to be there for him. And so she stayed.

At night she would lie in bed, dreaming of what should have been. She wouldn't be alone. She had a husband, kids. They would take care of her. She had her family. That is the most important thing. He wouldn't even talk to her anymore. At least not the way he used to. They would talk of course, about the case, about what they had for lunch. He didn't look at her in that special way anymore, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. So she started dreaming of what could have been. She would be lying in his bed, the feeling of the soft sheets shifting against her skin as he pulled her close and kissed her. She would look up and see the love in his eyes, the strength, the assurance that they could make it, that they could go on where she and Peter should have given up. Once she told him forever and he promised her. His promise had meant nothing and she resented him everyday a little more for it. She cared for him. Yes, she couldn't deny that But she didn't love him. And so she packed a bag left him a note and left.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

_A/N: I'm not a native English speaker so sorry for the grammar (or other) mistakes but I don't have a beta. This is my first "The good wife" fic. So please be nice…Let me know what you think and if I should continue. Could be a one-shot but could also be the beginning of something more. I haven't decided yet._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Still don't own them, still not making any money._

_A/N: Sorry for not updating. But I'm traveling around China right now so I don't know when I find a place where is an internet connection. _

**Chapter 2**

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"Alicia?" He was standing in the door opening of her office. His back slightly leaning against the doorpost. He had been standing there for a while but she hadn't noticed him. He was just standing there, watching her. He'd seen her put on her make-up to conceal her puffy red eyes as she was sitting in her chair. He'd seen her get up and walk around in her office while drinking her coffee. She looked tired, probably because it was quite early in the morning.

"Alicia?" He asked again. "Are you alright?" She was never in that early. Not unless there was a big case. His eyes rested on the overnight bag next to her chair. He instantly new something had happened. And what ever it was it wasn't going to be good.

"Will, I didn't see you there." She started to walk towards him. Yes, something had definitely happened. Something about her was different. He wasn't really sure what. She tried to look confident, detainment but it was as if she was forcing it. And she had that look in her eye, the same she has when she finds a great argument to win a case. She looked at him. She probably saw the concern on his face because she quickly replied his question. "I'm fine. Really. Can I do anything for you?"

"No, I just saw you sitting in your office, you're in early today." He was still focusing on the bag. What if she had left him? He had been hoping for that announcement since the day that he saw her on TV at the press conference. She was standing next to Peter, she looked devastated. All those years he had been telling him self that she was with Peter, that he took good care of her. That he loved her and she was happy. That it would be selfish to go to her and tell her she was the reason that ever since Georgetown he hadn't had any serious relationship. That he felt like cheating on her every time he took a lover. Not only would it be selfish it would also be certain death. Peter would kill him and she would never go for it. She was happily married, she wasn't the cheating kind of girl, and she would never leave him for someone else. He wouldn't have loved her if she was, it was part of her. She was the good wife. But when he saw her on TV, he new it was all a lie. He was so angry with Peter for humiliating her, that he thought about looking him up and beating the crap out of him. But she called him before that, she needed him. Of course he would help her. He would do anything for her. But she hadn't left Peter. She forgave him, stayed with him like a good wife would. One careless moment in the heat of emotions they had kissed, and it felt so good. Like it was supposed to be. Her face had felt soft under his hands, her lips touching his for the first time. A second later it was over and she was gone. It would have gone a lot further than kissing if she would have stayed. But when she didn't act after he left her the voicemail. He knew it was over. He had lost again. And so he stopped, and he moved on. This would be the end of it. But now she was here in the early morning with an overnight bag.

"Will?" Alicia was standing next to him.

"Sorry, I was just thinking" She was standing close, face to face. If he wanted he could kiss her right now. Just bend over a little, put his hand behind her head, pull her close and kiss her. Aarg…Why did his daydreams always contain suicide missions. He moved on. She didn't even have the decency to reply his voicemail. He had moved on.

"I could see that!" Alicia replied. She smiled. "The question is, what where you thinking off? Tammy? I didn't really had a chance to talk with her but she looks nice." She stared down at her feet.

He was shocked for a moment. Since when did Alicia remember the women in his life."Yes, she is, but I wasn't thinking about her." Did she look jealous? Ok, this was just his mind imagining things. "Are you going on a trip"? He asked quickly, He pointed at the overnight bag. Change the subject , always a good thing to do.

He looked down for a second and than she looked him right in the eye. "I was thinking about going a way for a few days, to visit my brother. That is.. If my boss can give me some time off" There was that big smile again. How is it that she could go from looking tired and depressed to looking confident and teasing. He loved that about her. God, he wasn't over her.

He smiled back at her, "I have to talk about it with the rest of the partners but I don't think it will be a problem. When do you want to leave and how long will you be gone ?" He was staring at her, even when she looked like this she looked great to him. He hadn't moved on. Well at least he could get some points for trying.

"This evening or tomorrow evening , just for a few days , two maybe three." She looked more relaxed now.

"Ok, I'll talk to them."He started to walk away. But than he stopped. He didn't turn around, but spoke in a soft voice. "Alicia, I don't know what is going on, but I know you're not fine. I'm your friend, and you don't have to tell me what's wrong but if you need anything, I want to help. Just promise you call if you need anything." He stood there for a few seconds, but when she didn't reply he started to walk away again .

"Will!"Her voice was strained, almost desperately pleading him to turn around. He stopped . "Will, I left him"

He looked at her. But he didn't know what to say, the only thing he could do was think "She did it. She actually left him."

"I need to talk to you, I need to know something" Still that strained voice, almost panicking.

"Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm going to talk to the partners. They should be in by now. After that we can talk about it if you like. Shall I bring you something to eat? "

She just nodded her head. His voice had been soft and confident, exactly what she needed right now. So she did what he said and watched him leave.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

15 minutes later she was still sitting in her office. How was she going to say this. Was it even fair to ask him now? He told Wade that he was done, that he would move on. He looked happy with Tammy. A second voicemail. What did he say? That was the question that was nagging her. Did he tell her he loved her? Probably. What a mess she moaned. She wasn't even supposed to know this. Actually she was, why didn't she get that second message? She was sure there was just one.

"Alicia, there you are. You probably know what I'm doing here."

"Eli?" She looked up from her desk. He was standing in front of her. Looking perfect in his suit and tie with his confident smirk on his face. She didn't know if she really started liking Mr. Gold or if he was just growing on her but she didn't find him as annoying as she did before. "What can I do for you this time?"

"Well, I got a very upset Peter on the phone this morning saying that his wife was nowhere to be found and only left a message that she would be gone for a few days. You do not happen to know anything about that, do you?"

"Actually, I do. I need some time. I'm going to my brother's place for a few days. It's not working out for us, and I need to think about the next step."

"Alicia look, Peter is really upset. He wants to stop his campaign. He thinks you're leaving him. And of course you would have every right to do that after what happened ,but please do it after the elections." He wasn't really pleading just pretending like every campaign manager would do. "I convinced him you weren't leaving but you just needed some time, some freedom. But I can only hold him back for so long. I need your help."

"Mr. Gold. I'm going to be frank, this is none of your business. This is between Peter and me. The last years everything was about him. I'm going to be selfish for a few days. I need some time alone." She was angry now. She new he was a client, someone the couldn't afford to lose but at this point it didn't matter. He could be the president of the United States him self and she still would have reacted in the same way.

"You are right. Of course."She looked at Eli and waited for the rest of his response. She knew he was thinking of an argument. "But think of Peter, the kids. If you leave the press will be all over it."

"Stop it Eli, I will call Peter if that's what you want. But I'm going to tell him I will be home in a few day's and after I get home we're going to have to talk about what we are going to do." The look in Eli's eyes let het know that she had won this round.

"Alicia" he tried one last time

"No Mr. Gold. Please leave. If you like you can give Peter the message." She definitely had won.

"Ok, if that is what you want. I will leave. I'll give Peter the message"

"This is what I want." Alicia was now ready for a confrontation. She was never the one to be quiet and not tell her opinion when something mattered to her but this was her life her decision, nor Peter's and definitely not his.  
"And Eli, do you know anything about a second voicemail message from Will the evening of the press conference?"

"I'm sorry?" If he knew anything, she couldn't read it from is face. But she knew he had one hell of a poker face.

"A voicemail message, a second one. One that I didn't get. That night you had my phone." She clarified, she spoke slowly and calm but anyone could see the fire in her eyes.

"No, I'm sorry! But if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go tell Peter your message and after that I'm going to try and save his campaign."

He left as quickly as he had arrived. Great! She rolled her eyes back. This was making her day a more complicated than it already was. Of course she knew Peter would want to talk to her, she had just hoped he would leave her alone just for a few days so she could get her thoughts straight. Maybe she should call Owen first and ask him if she could stay with him for a few days. She could go to his place and relax. Think about anything that had nothing to do with Peter, his campaign or Will.

"You never got the second message?" She looked up. Will was standing in her office, his face pale. In his eyes she could see his confusion. They where just looking at each other. He was clearly waiting for an answer. The confusion in his eyes started to change in to hope.

"I didn't"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

_a/n: I still don't have a beta so sorry for any mistakes . I can't wait for the next episode to see what happens since Alicia now knows about the voicemail. Just saw it today so I changed my story a little So.. Liked it? Hated it? Hit the review button. Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: again, not mine (cries) Just playing with them, will have them back before their curfew. _

_Thanks for the reviews and story alerts! Makes me wanna update faster ;-)_

**Chapter 3**

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

He remembered the first time he met her. He didn't even like her at first. He thought she was some spoiled little brat who wanted to go to law school because her parents had the money and it sounded good. He was at Georgetown to visit his boss's nephew, he was supposed to help him with his exams. Anything to for his career, right? He had met her when his boss's nephew had introduced her as one of his classmates. One afternoon he was walking around and passed by the Moot Courtroom . There was a mock trial going on and he decided to stay and watch for a moment. She was there arguing for the defense and doing a great job. That moment he fell in love with her. She was ___feisty_, she could adapt quickly and was incredibly smart. She was nothing like the snob he thought she was. When they had finished he had walked up to her and asked her out. They had been happy the last few years or at least so he thought. He didn't really know what had happened. Well, yes, besides the fact that he had screwed up major. This morning she was gone. He had walked in to the kitchen, expecting her to be there with a cup of coffee preparing for the day to come. But she wasn't there. He had knocked on her door but when no one responded he opened it only to see that she wasn't there either. She probably had an important case and was called in early. He went back to the kitchen and started to dial her number when he saw the note on the kitchen table.

" _Peter, I'm going to be gone for a few days. I need to think about us. About what we are going to do. Tell the kids I love them but that I am very busy the next few days. They can call me if they need me. When I get back we're going to need to have a talk. Alicia"_

No "love Alicia" just her name. That instant he knew she was going to leave him. And now he was pacing trough the room. When he told Eli he would drop out of the race and try and get Alicia back Eli had freaked out. But he knew he had to drop out if there was any chance of getting her back. What he had done was unforgivable but the last few weeks he had thought that they where going in the right direction. They talked again, had meals together. It was like they where dating. He thought she was starting to forgive him. He didn't even know why he had slept with those girls, she was great. Everything he wanted in a wife. He had thought about it many times in the last couple of months but never found a satisfying answer. Eli was going to talk to Alicia, he was already gone for over an hour, so he should be back anytime. He wanted to call her but Eli had assured him that calling her wasn't the best idea. She was a woman, sometimes they need some time, and she would only get angrier if he called her.

What is taking Eli so long. His phone was in his hand. What the hell, he was just going to take the chance. He had to know.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"You were talking to Wade, I heard it on the tapes. I only got one voicemail Will. The you one where you told me to forget about everything." Her voice was soft filled with emotion. Will could barley hear what she was saying.

He didn't say anything, couldn't even think about anything relevant to say. He was shocked. All this time he had felt miserable only because she hadn't got the voicemail. He should have listened to Wade. He should have told her in person. Well there was no time like the present.

"Alicia, what?..how?.. I'mean.."

Shit, Tammy. Ok, she kept saying he shouldn't fall in love with here but he knew she felt something more. Why couldn't anything in his life ever go easy. What was he still thinking about? The woman he loved was standing in front of him, looking at him waiting for a reply. He watched her, she looked scared. He smiled, trying to comfort her. It worked her face started to relax a little. A phone started buzzing. It was hers. Peter probably found out she was gone.

The phone was lying on her desk and she decided to ignore it, again. Peter had called 8 times in the last couple of minutes, or at least she thought it was Peter. His eyes followed hers to her desk ,their eyes locked and he spoke.

"Alicia, I'm sorry, I didn't know. After the voicemail when you didn't reply, I was hurt. And all this time you didn't even know that there was a second voicemail. I don't know what you heard but.."

"I know now there was second voicemail, I just don't know what you said." She saw his internal argument. What if she had gone too far? It had been a few months since he had left her the message. What if he changed his mind. He had Tammy now. "You don't have to tell me if it complicates things to much for you. But I do like to tell you something."

Alicia had been a little scared when he didn't reply. He was just standing in her office looking around in shock. She could see the emotions on his face changing from shock to disbelieve, anger and maybe there was a little bit of hope in there.

"I need to tell you that I am going to leave Peter, not because I don't care for him. I mean, in some kind of way I will always care for him. It's just that I really can't live with what he has done. I can't forgive him. The next few weeks are probably going to be a mess. I could use a friend around that time." Now the ball was in his court. If he wanted to tell here what the message said he could, if he thought it was to late he could just talk around it. Alicia thought.

"I get it, I mean with all the press you got last time. This won't be a fun ride" Probably not a good time to tell her that he loved her. He got the message loud and clear. Maybe she wanted him. Now just wasn't the right time. Their famous timing again.

"Well, what I was going to tell you is that we all agree, you can have some days off. We were just wondering if you could stay until the Donner case is finished that will probably take 2 or 3 more day's .After that you can take as much time as you need." The air cleared, saying this made the whole situation a lot less awkward.

Alicia felt her stomach turning. He didn't want to tell her what he said in the voicemail. He was over her. He loved Tammy not her. She was too late. "Yes, no problem. Will, thank you, you are a good friend!"

There was that friend again. "No problem Alicia, anything for you. Hey, where are you going to stay? Do you have a place to go?"

"I don't now yet. I was going to go to my brother, but here… I'll just stay at a hotel, or maybe I can stay at Kalinda's. I'll be fine" She hadn't thought about that yet. She who always planned everything in the detail didn't know where she would sleep tonight. Well she could always sleep in her office. She smirked. If she did that she would have one hell of a backache tomorrow morning.

"If you need a place to crash, you could stay at my place for a few days until you can go to your brother's . I mean I'm your friend, I'm here for you" He said casual. He would take the couch she could sleep in his bed. I would be better if she would be sleeping in his bed with him in it but.. Ok, stop thinking about this. You heard her, she needs a friend.

"You know I can cook a mean Lasagna, you love my lasagna" he was teasing her now. Trying to get rid of the strange atmosphere that was hanging in the room.

"Doesn't Tammy mind if I stay at your place for a few days?" She really could not stay at his place! Not now. It would be to.. awkward, to painful.

"No she doesn't, Tammy and me… it's complicated. I mean you heard her at the dinner. As soon as I fall in love with her she will be gone and break my heart. Alicia, come one, I know you love my Lasagna and you need a place to stay tonight." He grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes, it would be nice staying at a friend's house instead of her office or a hotel room. Was she actually considering this? What was it about this man that he could let her do about anything he wanted with that grin.

"You can talk, I can listen, or we could do some fun stuff like the old days" When she didn't reply he said. "Ok, that's settled than, you will come with me, we leave at 7 have some dinner and than we are going to watch some movies and I'm going to quiz you for the exam we have tomorrow"

She laughed . At Georgetown they would always do it like that. Have dinner, watch a movie and do their home work. Sometimes they would fall a sleep during the movie and forget all about their homework. She laughed again at that thought. They had some great memories.

"I'm going back to work, meet me in my office around 7 and we'll go to my place"

She smiled and nodded.

He left her office and walked up to his own. On the stairs he looked back, he saw her sitting behind her desk, probably working on the case. Ok, she would stay at his place tonight. No sweat, she needed a friend and he was her friend. He knew she wanted to talk about what happened. When they where at Georgetown they would talk about everything. How often didn't he come to her place in the middle of the night when I he had had a fight with one of his girlfriends and she came to him with all of her problems. They often spend the night together, nothing sexual just friends. But this time they weren't law students, they were adults, colleagues and he was in love with here.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"Eli, good you're here! Did you see her, where is she? I tried calling her a dozen times but she doesn't pick up the phone."

"What did I tell you? Just don't call her. The one thing I told you not to do and you do it" He didn't say it in an angry way, more in an "I knew you weren't going to listen to me" kind of way.

" Eli, come on, did you find her?"

Eli had never seen Peter this way, the looked devastated. Looking for any information about his wife. He liked them both, Peter and Alicia. But he knew she was going to leave him.

"I found her, she's at the office. She is trying to get some days of to go to her brother. She's just needs some time. The past year has been very difficult on her. You should know that.

"I need to go there, need to talk to her, convince her not to leave me. I need her." He was already on his way to get his coat.

"Peter! What are you going to do when you get there? She left for a reason, if she wanted to talk to you right away she would have stayed besides there are more important things to talk about right now." He still had to tell Peter and Alicia about the YouTube clip. This campaign wasn't going to be a nice one. The clip with Grace in it already got a lot of hits. They had to stop this.

"You take care of it. I have to talk to her, she'll understand." He had put on is coat and was now looking for his car key's.

"There is a clip on internet, one of Grace telling the reporters where to stuff it because it was and I quote "Just one hooker". We have got to fix this Peter."

"Does she know?"

"Not yet, but it won't be long before everyone is talking about it. So let's get to work."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

_a/n: Thanks for reading! So now you can thank me by telling me what you think or by leaving some thoughts about where you want me to go with the story! I don't know how long this story is going to be but I'll try to keep it in sync with the series. Just adding a lot of a/w! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Authors apology: Sorry, __Entschuldigung,__désolé,__ lo__ siento, __不好意思__! I didn't have a lot of time to write anything except for some business reports in the last view months… and when I did have time I didn't have any inspiration… So this chapter is not that good, but I need to start writing again. I'll make it up to you next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and story updates and my bf for beta-ing (I almost had to force him)! All mistakes are mine. _

_Disclaimer: They're mine, they're mine, they're mine! I'm delusional, sleep deprived and high on bad Chinese instant coffee. Don't mind me. (Just, send me normal good western coffee :D)_

Chapter 4

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Will was sitting in his office, it was ten to seven. In a few minutes Alicia would walk in with one off her big smiles and ask him if he was ready to go. It had been a busy day and he didn't have a lot of time to think about the things that had happened this morning. But now, while he was waiting for Alicia to come up to his office, thoughts flooded his mind.

She never got the second message, she didn't know he loved her, and she hadn't rejected him like he thought she had. And now she was there, alone, thinking that he had moved on. He chuckled. Great! If he didn't know better he would have thought someone had it in for him, that life had it in for him.

He was rich, successful, determent but when it came to his personal life he didn't have a clue. What would have happened if she had got the message that day? Would she have left Peter right on the spot and come running in to his arms? Would they date? Flirt? Have mind blowing sex in his office during lunch? He laughed. Like that would ever happen. Mind blowing sex with Alicia. Definitely. Mind blowing sex with Alicia in his office during lunch time…She probably won't go for that. But hey, a man could dream, right?

They could have been lovers right now.

Or would she have stayed with him, like she stood beside him that day at the press conference and politely decline his declaration of love and go on as being one of his best friends? Well, they would never find out now, would they?

This time she had left Peter, not because he had said anything but because she had wanted to leave. Was she still in love with him? Had she ever been in love with him? He wasn't used to this.

"Hey, handsome" She was standing behind him. He hadn't even seen her come in. Her hands were on his biceps, sliding up, starting to massage his shoulders. "Care to tell me why your assistant called me with the message: "Mr. Gardner would like to postpone your meeting for tonight." He knew she was wearing her mocking face. In his mind he could see how she moved her head trying to imitate his assistant.

"I have to work tonight." He heard her sigh. "I'm sorry, it's just a really important case." No response. "I'm going to make it up to you." Great day, now he was lying, to his girlfriend. "I promise."

"You don't know what you're missing!"She squeezed his shoulders and moved to stand in front of his desk. He grinned. The short black cocktail dress she was wearing hugged her figure in all the right places. She took a step back.

"Like it?"

He looked at her, his eyes started to follow the curves of her buttocks half way down her thighs where the dress ended and her white naked skin started.

"Miss Linnata, are you seducing me?" He could see a grin starting to form on her face.

"Well yes Mr. Gardner, I am." She sent him a steamy look before continuing. "Is it working?"

I'm sorry, was all he could say. He closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair. Life definitely had it in for him. She was so sexy, her voice, the way she moved, the dress that she was wearing.

"Fine, suit yourself. I'm going to have dinner, and after that I'm going home, strip out off this dress and take a long hot bath." Her voice was low and seductive as she stressed the last part of the sentence.

"I'm really sorry" She walked to stand beside him. "You better be!" She gave him a quick kiss. "I'll take this as my down payment for tomorrow night." With that she leaned down to kiss him again."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Alicia was sitting in her office, it was five past seven. She was supposed to go up to Will's office, but she couldn't. She finished all the work on the Donner case about an hour ago and tomorrow they could sign the settlement papers. She checked her laptop, six past seven. She should go up there.

This whole situation was…, it was…, what was it exactly? This morning everything seemed so logical, rational, but now. She had left her husband, in a note, at four in the morning. After that she accepted the invitation of her boss, who happened to be her best friend with whom she was in love, to stay at his place, while his girlfriend would be temporarily forgotten.

A few minutes after Will left this morning the implications of what she had agreed to entered her mind. She would stay at his house, in his bed, under his sheets, with him very close by. She wanted that ever since she started to work at the firm, maybe even before that and although she knew there were feelings and sparks in the past he was with Tammy now, and he liked her. She even liked her. So therefore this was a bad idea, a really bad idea.

Her phone buzzed for the umpteenth time. She checked it, Peter had called 28 times since this morning and she had yet to answer one of them. The phone kept buzzing and she fought the urge to throw it against the wall.

What was she doing? What about Grace and Zach? They hadn't called her yet so Peter probably told them what she told him to tell them. Ten past seven. They where great kids but they where hurt when they found out what Peter had done. What their father had done. She was going to hurt them all over again, by leaving Peter. Maybe she should go back home, talk to him, have an honest conversation. The last view months she hadn't been really open and talkative towards him.

"Hey! It's a quarter past seven! I thought I made my self clear when I said I expected you in my office at seven. What are you still doing here?"

"Will, I was just thinking…" she paused not sure on how to continue.

Will noticed her hesitation "You where just thinking how much you like my lasagna. Get your coat and your bag, were going. I need to pick some stuff up before I can make that lasagna and I don't want you starving before we watched every second of lord of the rings together. "

She smiled, he always knew what to say. "All of them? Tonight? Aren't you overdoing it just a little? Plus I don't really think that's my genre. Why don't we go for some classics like "Casablanca", "Gone with the wind" or…"

"Now you're talking! lets go!"

Maybe this is a good thing; maybe I should be on my own for a while. She grabbed her bag and coat and followed Will to the garage. She was on her way to her own car when Will called her. "Leave it here, we can take mine."

"But won't they notice? What about.." Crap, tomorrow morning, what if someone saw them come in together. What if someone saw her go in his apartment and not come out until tomorrow morning. She was still a public figure; she didn't get as much attention as she got last year but still. She hadn't even thought about this. She had been so absorbed with her other problems that she forgot about this one.

"Will, what if someone sees us?"

"What do you…? " Than it dawned on him. He could see the fear in Alicia's eyes and instantly knew what the problem was. "Alicia, that already happened once and nothing bad came from it, remember the picture, the hotel?"

"Except for the fact that I was interrogated for a week by the whole staff, plus we weren't at your place. We had a reasonable explanation for being there."

"We have a reasonable explanation now, you need a friend and I am one. Can't have my best lawyer living on the street."

She frowned. "Other people won't think so."

His face became serious, the mock grin disappearing. "So what do you want to do?"

She wanted nothing more that to go with him, eat lasagna and watch movies all night, just forget about everything and have fun, but the stakes where to high. It would damage Peters campaign if this came out. Not to mention what her kids would think about her sleeping with her boss, she already had that conversation with Grace once. _I'm not sleeping with my boss, I'm just staying at his place, my friends place. _

"Alicia." The words brought her back to reality.

"You know what, just in case, here are my keys. Take your care and drive to my place, I will buy the things I need and see you there in 30 minutes." He stepped closer and handed her his key. He put his hands reassuring on her shoulders.

"Don't worry Alicia, I know it might not feel like it right now, but it's going to be alright."

Her left hand moved to cover his, she squeezed and he released her shoulder. Their hands slid down in union and so they stood for a few seconds. Watching each other, holding hands.

"Thanks, you're a good friend"

"See you in half an hour." He released her hand and walked to his car.

They were standing together, close together, holding hands, staring at each other. The look on the Will's face was soft almost loving and for a moment he was convinced Will would close the gap between them and kiss Alicia. Will was going to kiss his wife. But it didn't happen, he just said something and walked away. Peter saw the look in Alicia's eyes as she followed Will's movements before turning around, walking the short distance to her car. He wanted to run to the car, get in next to her and beg her to come back. But he didn't. Eli was right, she needed time, and time was the only thing he could give her right now.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o**

_a/n: I know it's short but, Yeeeah I finished this chapter, finally! And it's not as bad as I thought it would be. As a reward I'm going to watch all the episodes (3!) I missed the last view weeks.. I'll update this Sunday, promise! Reviews are nice._


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